"Miss Potts is calling again," FRIDAY informed, and Tony thought he sensed a thread of irritation in her voice this time.
"How many times now?" Tony asked, only a fraction of his attention on the question, much more of it focused on trying to make sense of the Eve Wars, not for the first time. And trying to work out the window. When the door had been blocked, Duo had moved to the window. Why had he done that? The WinStar was a new, modern building, all straight sides and nowhere to grip. What had he planned?
"This is her fourth consecutive call. She has tried to call ten times today."
He sighed. It was probably time to actually answer her then. "Put her through," he said, shoving the windows he was looking at aside as Pepper's face popped up.
"Tony," she greeted in that particular tone she always used when she was gearing up to lecture him.
"What do you need?" he asked, hoping to cut her off. Things hadn't been… tense, exactly, since they broke up, but they were in a weird place that he assumed was the reason people didn't usually stay friends with their exes. Since she was the CEO of his company, they still had to work with each other, so it was better for them both to figure out how to be friends, but they weren't quite there yet.
"Colleen said you've been dodging her calls for weeks," she said.
"And Colleen is…?"
"Your publicist," she said, long-suffering written across her face.
"Right." He thought he remembered her. She was the brunette with the suits. Or was she the blonde with the nails? Probably better not to ask. "What does she need?"
"She's been fielding requests for comments on your son for weeks. She'd like to be able to give an official comment that isn't 'no comment.'"
"'No comment' is a legitimate comment," he argued.
She sighed. "Tony…"
"Look, what kind of comment is she looking for? 'We can confirm I have a biological son. Please respect his privacy?'" he asked. "Duo is a Preventer, Pep. He's literally an international cop—and he just spent two years undercover. Call me crazy, but splashing his face all over the news doesn't sound like a great idea. He was already shot this morning because Hydra found and targeted him."
Pepper's face immediately clouded with concern. "Is he okay?" she asked.
Tony picked up a random wrench that was on his worktable and shrugged. "Bruce stitched him up, but he wouldn't go to the hospital. It's not his first time being shot, and he didn't feel it was serious enough to go," he admitted, staring at the simple tool. He could feel Pepper's empathy face looking down at him, but he refused to look up as he admitted, "He's enhanced, Pep."
"Enhanced how?" she asked, sticking to the facts to keep him on an even keel. "Are we talking enhanced like supersoldier"—he had to laugh at the fact that she still knew not to say Cap's name—"or are we talking enhanced like Bruce?"
That was the question, wasn't it?
"Definitely some sort of advanced healing." He ran a hand over his face. "He has so many scars," he said, looking up at her again. "He's twenty-two, and he has more scars than all of the Avengers combined."
"Well, certain supersoldiers don't really scar, neither does Bruce nor the Asgardians, and you had a lot of yours removed, so I wouldn't judge that too harshly," she pointed out, trying for a little bit of levity.
"Part of me wants to show him off to the world. He's strong and resilient and…" He took a breath. "He's mine, Pep. I can't explain it, but he's mine, and I—"
"I understand, Tony."
"Do you? Do you, really?" he asked, meeting her eyes on the screen.
"I can imagine, at least," she said, and sorrow echoed softly in her voice. The silence stretched, full of unsaid apologies that weren't enough, that couldn't fix them. Pepper spoke into that quiet, able to break it without shattering them both in some mysterious way Tony never understood but wished he could replicate. "So what do you want to do about the publicity? If Hydra found him, it's probably only a matter of time…"
He stared off at the ceiling for a minute, forcing his thoughts to stop scattering and focus on this. He hated it, but that didn't mean Tony didn't know it was important.
"Have her issue a confirmation and ask for our privacy at this time. Make it about protecting him from my enemies if you need to. It's even true." He didn't tell Pepper that Duo had killed some of the Hydra agents. He probably should, because that was probably going to come out, but he just… couldn't deal with it right then. Memories of Duo kneeling over a body, pointing a gun at Tony, no recognition in those eyes, chased memories of Duo stepping on an agent's throat and coolly declaring "Stop begging, it's embarrassing." He didn't know how to feel about those, so he focused on Duo's injury, on the history of violence carved into his skin. On the mystery of the window. Pepper would yell later, and that was… not fine, but it was acceptable.
"You need some sort of plan for a public introduction," she reminded gently.
"I don't… I have to talk to him," he said.
"I know," she said, more acknowledgement than platitude. "You also owe an RSVP to the MET Gala. You have a plus-one this year." Because Pepper had her own invitation.
"Yeah. Go ahead and RSVP." He waved a hand as if he could brush it all away. He usually went because Pepper liked going, but he was trying to win over public opinion, and snubbing one of the most visible events in the world was unlikely to win him any good will.
"Maybe Duo can be your plus-one?" she suggested.
Tony made a face. "I don't think it's his type of event," he said dryly, thinking of Duo's uniform of black and weaponry.
"Well, not because of that. You need a public reveal of him. If you do it at the MET, no one will be able to argue you were hiding him. The security is excellent, so it should be safe, and you can dress him up so frilly and over the top, he'll be nearly unrecognizable when he's dressed normally."
Tony opened his mouth to dismiss it, then stopped and thought about it. It wasn't a terrible idea. In fact, it was kind of perfect. He'd have to convince Duo, but worst-case scenario, he could drag Bruce or Natasha with. "Let's go with that," he agreed. "Don't… don't release it yet, officially. Don't release it till I talk to Duo about it. I don't think he'll appreciate me making decisions for him."
She raised an eyebrow, looking amused. "What is this? Has Tony Stark learned to respect boundaries?" she asked, and even though the corner of her mouth twitched, she managed to keep her voice even.
"Me? Never," he assured.
.o0o.o0o.o0o.
It was coming up on dinner, and Duo hadn't stirred since he'd gone to bed. Tony was on his way to check on him and was more than a little surprised to run into Cap on the way.
"Do you need Duo for something?" Tony asked, because there was nothing else on this floor for Cap to be interested in.
Tony did not find Cap's obvious discomfort and embarrassment endearing. He couldn't wrap his head around how someone who was so transparent had hidden the truth about his parents' murder from him for two years.
"I was, uh, hoping he was awake. I wanted a chance to talk to him."
That didn't sound ominous at all. "About what?"
He may not find Cap's discomfort endearing, but he could get a little vindictive enjoyment out of him being so out of sorts.
"He and Bucky were talking about some things, and I wanted to try to talk to him, one-on-one. Soldier-to-soldier."
He'd forgotten that most of the year he'd spent in the caves while the Eve War was going on, Cap had still been frozen. Tony's grasp on the Eve Wars wasn't great—and he was trying to fix that—but Cap had been working forward from where he'd gone into the ice 75 years before.
"Duo wasn't a soldier."
This time Cap was the one wearing a skeptical look.
"No, really. He was Rebellion. Colonies didn't—and still don't—have any formal military. Before Preventers were established, the most they had were local police forces or mercenaries. Alliance and Romefeller had military bases and outposts on the colonies, but they answered to Earth governments, not colonial ones. Rebellion troops were mostly civilian and guerilla-style fighters, but no formal structure at all."
Cap frowned at that. "No formal structure maybe," he said. "But given the way Maxwell reacts, I think he's had some training."
"Well, sure. He was with Preventers for four years, not counting his time undercover. It's run by Director Une, who was the right hand of Treize Khushrenada during the first Eve War. Think of her like Maria Hill to Khushrenada's Fury. Alliance and OZ were both rigorously regimented and old-style military. A lot of that seems to have trickled into Preventers. Four years in the force, and yeah, I'd think he shows some training."
"I looked it up—the Old Souls Statute was pretty strict on the requirements," Cap said.
"We'd have to ask to be sure, but it's unlikely he saw much fighting. The Eve Wars are still too close to have any remotely unbiased accounts available yet. From what I can find, it was a train wreck of internal struggle on the Alliance side—a couple of different coups, the Gundams coming down, the colonies turning against the Gundams, and somehow, at the end, the Gundams ending up saving the world, literally, and being hailed as heroes both for saving the world and showing that the colonies had been oppressed. Trying to find resources about Rebellion activity outside of the Gundams themselves has been like pulling teeth."
"If that's the case, how did he get a reliable enough witness to support his claim for emancipation?" Cap asked.
"His witness is now second-in-command of the Preventers, Sally Po. If Po said she worked with Duo enough to make him eligible, the testimony's pretty much bulletproof." Oh, he knew that look on Cap's face. "Stop it with that wheel-turning look," he said, warning. "Whatever you're thinking, stop."
"It's just… strange, though, isn't it? It seems like Maxwell has some really high connections. It feels off."
"Official colonial Rebellion numbers range anywhere from the 5,000 to 50,000 range, but most put them closer to the lower end. It was a small community, and we know he's hacking prodigy. That kind of skill would have been incredibly valuable."
"But he's not just a hacker, Tony. He was a field agent. If he were just a hacker—"
"Stop," Tony said, and the tone brooked no argument. "This is my son you're talking about, so if you're going to start spouting speculation at me, you damn well better have more evidence than your fucking gut."
Cap ran a hand through his hair and sighed. He looked like he was debating something but came to a decision quickly. "He was tortured, Tony."
Tony stared because there was no way he heard that right. He had no idea how to even begin to respond to that, and Cap could tell because he barreled on. "You were looking at his chest, but Nat and I had a pretty close-up view of his back. That back tattoo? The artist who did it was a master, but it covers extensive scarring. I thought it looked deliberate because the wings fit the direction of most of the scarring, so I asked Nat. She agrees."
He took in several slow deep breaths because he didn't want to start yelling down the Tower right outside Duo's door. "Even if you're right, it doesn't prove anything. This may surprise you, but hackers do get tortured."
"Yeah, if they get caught. My question is how did a hacker get away?"
"Just fucking stop, Rogers!" Tony snapped. "He's my son, and he's obviously smart. I could have gotten away, what makes you think he couldn't?"
"Because he was fifteen with half of his back flayed off!"
"And I was thirty-eight with a car battery hooked up to my chest to keep shrapnel out of my heart when I built the Mark I—under my captors' noses!"
"But you're you!"
"Uh, children?" Duo said. Judging by how Cap whipped around to stare at Duo, he hadn't heard him open the door either. "As fun as this conversation sounds, maybe you could save it for somewhere a little more private?"
"I'm so sorry—"
"We didn't mean to wake you—"
"You didn't," Duo interrupted, putting his hands up to calm them both, one held his phone. "Quat did." He waved the phone to make the point. Looking closely, he did look better, and he wasn't groggy like Tony would expect if he'd been woken from a deep sleep. "They weren't expecting to get in tonight because they weren't supposed to have a descent window, but one opened up. They should be landing at La Guardia about now, so they're what? Three hours in rush hour?"
"If they take a helicopter, more like half an hour," Tony told him, mouth on autopilot.
Duo looked thoughtful. "How often do private helicopters land here?" he asked.
Tony winced, understanding the reason behind Duo's question—how much attention would a private helicopter landing bring? Once, it wouldn't have been much. These days…
"I'll run it by Quat once he lands and see if he thinks it's worth the risk."
"No one got a good picture of you from the hotel, but speculation's running pretty rampant," Cap volunteered when Tony would rather he hadn't. "There will be eyes on the Tower for at least the next couple of days."
"Fantastic," Duo said, drawing the word out with sarcasm. "What's your favorite Chinese delivery place?" he asked.
"Wong's on Fifth," Tony and Cap said together.
"Perfect. Let's order that for dinner—I can give you Quat and Tro's orders. If we target seven, is that too late for everyone to eat?"
"That should be fine," Tony replied, feeling like he had missed a step.
"Cool—can you add an extra order of sweet-and-sour meat? Pork preferred, chicken's fine. Quat tries to keep halal. He lives with a diehard foodie, so he mostly sucks at it, but he tries. He really likes black pepper beef though." He looked between them and added, "If that works for everyone?"
"FRI—put in our usual order plus Duo's additions?" Tony said.
"Done, Boss."
Duo tensed, then visibly calmed himself. "Right. So, unless you need something else, mind if I get cleaned up?" he asked.
Tony tried to remember the last time anyone had managed to make both him and Cap trip over themselves like this, and failed. Duo nodded at them and turned to go back into his room, then paused.
"Oh, and one more thing." He looked over his shoulder at them.
Why did that sound ominous?
"If you want to know something about me, try asking. I don't tell lies. I might tell you it's none of your business or I don't want to talk about it, but I'm not going to tell you a lie."
Not that Duo had struck Tony as a shrinking violet, but not many people met Cap's eyes with that blatant of a challenge.
Tony hoped he didn't regret it since Cap had never met a challenge he didn't leap at.
"What happened to your back?" Cap asked.
To his credit, Duo didn't flinch, facing Cap full on. He crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow, a grin twitched at the corner of his lips. "You're going to need to be more specific."
That sort of amusement at Cap's expense was all but guaranteed to get his hackles up. Tony had a lot of experience with it. He couldn't help but be a little amused to see Duo had the same trait.
Cap managed not to rise to the bait—at least not yet. "The scars under your back tattoo—how did you get them?"
Duo didn't answer right away. He didn't look like he wasn't going to answer, just deciding how to answer. Tony might have been holding his breath because he wouldn't have dared ask, but God, he wanted to know.
"Torture," he finally said with a little shrug. "Forgive me if I don't indulge your inner sadist with the details."
Tony wished he could get more satisfaction from the fact that Cap looked sorry to be right. It didn't stop him from asking another question though. "How'd you break out? Injuries that severe…" He didn't have to finish. They were both painfully familiar with how debilitating blood loss could be, not to mention the shock from all the pain.
He didn't expect Duo to smile. Small and bittersweet, but the memory didn't appear to be crippling or to bring a flashback—both of which Cap should have been aware could have been reactions. People often had very bad reactions to being forced to live traumatic events. "I'm flattered that you think I had anything to do with getting out of that hot mess. I was rescued." The memory of his rescue must be more good than bad because the unconscious smile was probably the most sincere Tony had seen. "That answer the questions for now?" He waited a bare beat before nodding, and the door closed in their faces.
"That… is not how most people react when you ask them about being tortured," Cap pointed out, though he sounded reluctant.
"I had that same thought," Tony agreed. "We probably shouldn't have this conversation here."
He didn't really want to have this conversation at all, but he wanted to know what Duo said that put such a bee in Cap's bonnet to begin with. His bet was on Barnes. He nodded and let Cap lead the way.
They stopped at the elevator, far enough from Duo's door that unless they started shouting again, there should be no way of hearing them, but still away from all the others. "So what did Duo say to get your boyfriend's britches in a twist?" Tony asked.
"He's not—" He cut himself off, taking a deep breath. "Bucky said I might want to talk to Duo about the Accords," he said.
Tony didn't know what he expected Cap to say, but that probably wouldn't have made the top twenty. Judging by how completely awkward Cap was looking, that wasn't all of it though.
"And?" he prodded.
Cap looked at the floor, shifted his weight, glanced at Tony, looked back the floor. Good grief, what the hell had Duo said?
"Did… do… are you…?"
"Spit it out, Capsicle."
The despised nickname seemed to steel his spine a bit, so goal accomplished. "Have you been covering all of our expenses?"
Tony rolled his eyes. Money? He should have known. People could be so weird about money.
"Tony," Cap said, that particular tone that was somewhere between wheedling and demanding.
"Are we still talking about this? I'm bored already."
"Why didn't you tell us?" Cap asked.
"Why should I have had to!" Tony demanded, angry. "It was obvious to Duo, who doesn't even like me!" he snapped. "Don't worry about it—it's necessary."
"But you're—"
"Do you happen to know anyone else who can cover it?" he snapped. Cap opened his mouth, but when nothing came out, Tony said, "Then conversation over." He hit the button for the elevator, and it opened. "Catch the next one."
The doors closed before Cap could protest. Tony wished he could enjoy the stricken look on Cap's face half as much as he wanted to.